Yellow Submarine

(Lennon/McCartney)

Quick Facts

Composer	Paul
Lead Vocal	Ringo
Recorded	May–Jun 1966
Length	2:40
Key	G
Noted Takes	5
Producer	George Martin
Engineer	Geoff Emerick

Originally released on

Revolver

Yellow Submarine / Eleanor Rigby

Parlophone — PMC 7009 / PCS 7009

Find on Amazon

Page status: In review

Story Section status: Outdated

“Yellow Submarine” is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1966 album Revolver. It was also issued on a double A-side single, paired with “Eleanor Rigby”. Written as a children’s song by Paul McCartney and John Lennon, it was drummer Ringo Starr’s vocal spot on the album.

Yellow Submarine is a song by The Beatles, written by Lennon–McCartney and led on vocal by Ringo Starr. Children’s singalong with sound effects; Paul’s idea, Ringo’s vocal. Within the catalogue, its singalong thread connects it to All Together Now; its ringo-vocal thread connects it to Boys, I Wanna Be Your Man, Honey Don’t. Paul McCartney’s playful novelty composition ‘Yellow Submarine,’ recorded with Ringo Starr providing lead vocals, became one of the album’s most commercially successful and culturally enduring works. The song’s sing-along chorus and child-friendly subject matter masked sophisticated production techniques and inventive arrangement work.

What’s distinctive

One of 11 songs led primarily by Ringo. Recorded approximately 12 of 16 into the Revolver / Studio Awakening (1966) sessions. Carries the unique tag ‘sound-effects’ — no other song shares it. Take count: 5 — four rhythm-track takes on 26 May 1966 followed by a tape-to-tape reduction of take 4 into take 5; all subsequent overdubs and the released master derive from take 5.¹

Recording

Four takes of the rhythm track + tape reduction to take 5 — The core recording of “Yellow Submarine” was laid down in a single six-hour session at Studio Three, Abbey Road, on 26 May 1966. Four takes of the rhythm track were recorded: acoustic guitar (John) on Track 1 alongside Ringo’s drums and George’s tambourine, with Paul’s bass on Track 2. “Take four had the best rhythm track so it was onto this that all of this day’s vocals were superimposed.” Those vocals — Ringo’s lead plus backing by John, Paul and George — were “recorded at 47½ cycles in order that it be speeded up on replay,” giving the released vocal its characteristic bright, slightly accelerated quality. Take five was a tape-to-tape reduction of take four, freeing tracks on the J37 for the elaborate sound-effects overdubs that followed on 1 June. All subsequent work and the released master derive from take 5.^1,2
George Martin absent on 26 May — Geoff Emerick sole studio authority — Martin was “off with a bad bout of food poisoning” for the entire 26 May rhythm-track session. He “sent his wife Judy [to be, they married on 24 June 1966] along instead to keep an eye on things, and I suppose to make sure we all behaved ourselves.” The session log marks the Producer field as “n/a” — one of very few Beatles sessions for which no producer is formally credited. Rehearsals consumed most of the evening; John Lennon broke the impasse: “Come on. It’s 20 to 10 [ie 9.40] and we still haven’t made us a record!” Martin returned for the 1 June sound-effects session.¹
Twelve-hour sound-effects marathon, 1 June 1966 — The second and final recording session ran 2.30pm–2.30am in Studio Two — twelve hours devoted entirely to superimposing sound effects onto take 5. The Beatles raided the studio’s “trap room” — “chains, ships bells, hand bells from wartime, tap dancing mats, whistles, horns, wind machines, thunder-storm machines… everything.” Studio staff John Skinner and Terry Condon swirled old chains in a water-filled metal bath; John Lennon blew bubbles in a bucket; outside brass-band musicians were brought in to play live; and John sat in the echo chamber behind Studio Two singing “Full speed ahead Mister Captain” material. Guests including Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones, Marianne Faithfull and Pattie Harrison joined the increasingly raucous choruses alongside Neil Aspinall, Mal Evans, George Martin and the four Beatles. “The original tape reveals that overdubs of the effects were plastered throughout the song, although they were only used sporadically on the record.”¹
Discarded 31-second spoken intro — “One of the most remarkable overdubs — the one which took the most time to plan and record — never made it onto the finished article.” At least four separate superimpositions of a spoken passage by Ringo were recorded for the beginning of the song, lasting 31 seconds, with the theme of a walk from Land’s End to John O’Groats. “And we will march to tree the day to see them gathered there, from Land O’Groats to John O’Green, from Stepney to Utrecht, to see a yellow submarine….” The marching-feet sound was “coal in a cardboard box… sliding it from side to side,” inspired by Barbara Moore’s charity walk. The intro was discarded at the 3 June mono-mixing session: “One of the first decisions at this stage was to discard Ringo’s spoken ‘Land O’Groats to John O’Green’ intro.”¹
K/R engineering detail — track allocation, underwater mic, punch-in error — Ryan and Kehew document the four-track allocation for the released master and identify two engineering incidents not in Lewisohn. Phil McDonald accidentally punched in at the wrong point and wiped John’s repeat of a vocal line; in the stereo mix, Emerick’s early fade of the relevant track also lost John’s “life of ease” echo. Separately, Ken Townsend experimented with a Neumann KM53 condenser microphone wrapped in a plastic bag and placed inside a milk bottle full of water to simulate an underwater vocal effect; whether any of this underwater recording survived onto the released master remains debated. The echo chamber was applied to the released mix — Yellow Submarine is identified as one of only four Revolver tracks with “any appreciable chamber,” alongside Here, There and Everywhere, Good Day Sunshine and For No One.²
Full ending discarded — “The song’s other variation at this stage from what would be released on record was a full, rounded ending. On record it was faded out.” The released single and LP versions both carry the fade rather than the original full ending recorded on 26 May.¹

Equipment Section status: Outdated

Studio	EMI Studios, Abbey Road — Studio Three (26 May 1966, rhythm track + vocals); Studio Two (1 June 1966, sound-effects overdubs)¹
Tape machine	Studer J37 four-track²
Console	REDD.51²
Microphones	Neumann U47/U48 (vocals, acoustic guitar), AKG D19c (drum overhead), AKG D20 (bass drum, bass amp), Neumann KM-56 (under snare), Neumann KM53 (underwater-mic experiment)
Outboard / effects	RS124 compressor, Fairchild 660 limiter, RS127 Presence Box, echo chamber
Guitars	Gibson J-160E (John, acoustic), Hofner 500/1 (Paul, bass)
Amplifiers	Fender Showman (era-generic)

Recording Timeline

26 May 1966 (Thu) — rhythm track + vocals, Studio Three — EMI Studios, Studio Three, 7.00pm–1.00am. P: n/a (George Martin absent, food poisoning). E: Geoff Emerick. 2E: Phil McDonald. Recording: ‘Yellow Submarine’ (takes 1–4, tape reduction take 4 into take 5). Extensive rehearsal consumed most of the session. The rhythm track comprised acoustic guitar (John), bass guitar (Paul), tambourine (George) and drums (Ringo) across two tracks. Take four was best; vocals — Ringo’s lead and backing by John, Paul and George — were superimposed at 47½ cycles varispeed. Take five was a tape-to-tape reduction of take four, ready for the later superimposition of sound effects.¹
1 June 1966 (Wed) — sound-effects overdubs, Studio Two — EMI Studios, Studio Two, 2.30pm–2.30am (12 hours). P: George Martin. E: Geoff Emerick. 2E: Phil McDonald. Recording: SI onto take 5. The trap room was raided for sound-effects props. John Skinner and Terry Condon swirled chains in a metal bath; John Lennon blew bubbles in a bucket; outside brass-band musicians played live in the studio; guests Brian Jones, Marianne Faithfull and Pattie Harrison joined the choruses alongside Beatles, road crew and studio staff. Ringo’s 31-second spoken intro (“Land O’Groats to John O’Green”) was recorded in at least four superimpositions but later discarded. John sang from the echo chamber behind Studio Two. Mal Evans marched around the studio wearing a bass drum on his chest, everyone in line behind him conga-style.¹
2 June 1966 (Thu) — rough mono remix, Studio Two — EMI Studios, Studio Two, 7.00pm–3.30am. P: George Martin. E: Geoff Emerick. 2E: Phil McDonald. Mono mixing: ‘Yellow Submarine’ (remix 1, from take 5). Only a rough remix, “overlooked when allocating numbers” to the subsequent 3 June mixes.¹
3 June 1966 (Fri) — mono remixes 1–5, Studio Two — EMI Studios, Studio Two, 7.00pm–2.30am. P: George Martin. E: Geoff Emerick. 2E: Phil McDonald. Mono mixing: ‘Yellow Submarine’ (remixes 1–5, from take 5). “One of the first decisions at this stage was to discard Ringo’s spoken ‘Land O’Groats to John O’Green’ intro.”¹
22 June 1966 (Wed) — stereo remixes 1–2, Studio Three (control room) — EMI Studios, Studio Three (control room only), 7.00pm–1.30am. P: George Martin. E: Geoff Emerick. 2E: Jerry Boys. Stereo mixing: ‘Yellow Submarine’ (remixes 1 and 2, from take 5). Final stereo remixing for the LP, part of the last batch of Revolver stereo mixes alongside Eleanor Rigby, She Said She Said, Good Day Sunshine, Tomorrow Never Knows and Got to Get You into My Life.¹
3 and 22 June 1966 — effects in different places — Mono mixed 3 June 1966, stereo 22 June.³ The guitar enters immediately in the mono but only after “in the town” in the stereo; the mono additionally carries a splash effect at the start of verse three and Lennon repeating the vocal after its first line.³

“Sessions don’t come much more unusual than this one — the sound effects superimpositions for ‘Yellow Submarine’.”— Mark Lewisohn¹

Studio Notes

Varispeed vocal treatment at 47½ cycles — The lead and backing vocals were recorded with the J37’s variable-speed oscillator set to 47½ cycles per second (below the standard 50 cps), “in order that it be speeded up on replay.” On playback at normal speed the vocals sound fractionally faster and brighter than the performance as sung. The technique was a regular feature of the 1966 sessions; Ryan and Kehew note that ADT, invented by Ken Townsend during these sessions, was also available but the published sources do not document its application to the released Yellow Submarine master.^1,2
Trap-room sound effects — props and personnel — The sound-effects arsenal was drawn almost entirely from Abbey Road’s in-house “trap room” — a cupboard just inside the doorway of Studio Two housing a collection of novelty props accumulated over decades. Studio staff John Skinner and Terry Condon operated a metal bath filled with water and old chains. Skinner: “We filled it with water, got some old chains and swirled them around. It worked really well. I’m sure no one listening to the song realised what was making the noise.” The session also employed wind machines, thunder-storm machines, ships’ bells, hand bells, tap-dancing mats, whistles and horns. “The original tape reveals that overdubs of the effects were plastered throughout the song, although they were only used sporadically on the record” — the released version is considerably more restrained than the session tape.¹
Ken Townsend’s underwater microphone experiment — Ryan and Kehew document an attempt by technical engineer Ken Townsend to record an underwater vocal: a Neumann KM53 condenser microphone was wrapped in a plastic bag and placed inside a milk bottle full of water, with John singing into the arrangement. Townsend and Emerick gave differing accounts of the experiment, and whether any of the resulting recording survived onto the final mix remains uncertain. The experiment is characteristic of the exploratory engineering culture of the Revolver sessions.²
Phil McDonald’s punch-in error — Second engineer Phil McDonald accidentally punched in at the wrong point during an overdub, wiping John’s repeat of a vocal line. The error was not repaired. In the stereo mix, Emerick’s early fade of the affected track also lost John’s “life of ease” echo — an additional detail audible only on the mono mix.²
Echo chamber — one of four Revolver tracks — Yellow Submarine is identified as one of only four Revolver tracks to which “any appreciable chamber” was applied, alongside Here, There and Everywhere, Good Day Sunshine and For No One. The sparse use of the chamber across the album reflects the 1966 sessions’ shift toward direct-injection and close-miking techniques under Emerick’s engineering.²
Discarded spoken intro — four-layer superimposition — The 31-second spoken intro comprised at least four separate overdub passes: Ringo’s speaking voice dominated, with George, Paul and John adding their own spoken contributions, “mixed into one mélange.” The theme was Barbara Moore’s charity walk from Land’s End to John O’Groats; the marching-feet accompaniment was created by putting coal in a cardboard box and sliding it from side to side. The intro was discarded at the first mono-mixing session on 3 June — “although why the Beatles chose to discard it after they had injected such effort is not known. Indeed it is not too clear why they did it in the first place.”¹
Full ending replaced by fade — The 26 May recording had “a full, rounded ending. On record it was faded out.” The decision to substitute a fade for the composed ending was made during the mono-mixing sessions (2–3 June). Both the mono and stereo released masters carry the fade.¹
Guest and session personnel on 1 June — The 1 June sound-effects session drew an unusually large crowd of non-Beatles participants. Emerick: “They had a whole crowd of people in to do the effects. Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones was there chinking glasses, Marianne Faithfull, Pattie Harrison.” Neil Aspinall, Mal Evans and all four Beatles sang on the choruses. John sat in the echo chamber behind Studio Two. Mal Evans marched around the studio “wearing a huge bass drum on his chest, with everyone else in line behind him, conga-style, singing ‘We all live in a yellow submarine’!” Outside brass-band musicians — “their names alas lost” — were brought in to play traditional brass-band instruments.¹

Releases

Sound effects land in different places in the two 1966 mixes, and a 1999 remix rebuilds the song’s opening outright.

1966 UK mono LP — Revolver (Parlophone PMC 7009) — Mixed 3 June 1966. The guitar enters immediately; a splash effect arrives at the start of the third verse; and Lennon is heard repeating the vocal line after the first line of verse three. Also the double A-side single (Parlophone R 5489) and on A Collection of Beatles Oldies.
1966 UK stereo LP — Revolver (Parlophone PCS 7009) — Mixed 22 June 1966. The guitar does not enter until after “in the town”, which changes how the song opens. The last line of verse three is widely misheard here; the official lyric is simply “submarine”.
1966 US LP — Revolver (Capitol T 2576 mono / ST 2576 stereo) — The 1966 UK masters through Capitol’s cutting chain. Note that the US Revolver is three tracks shorter than the UK album, so the running order differs.
1969 — Yellow Submarine (UK Apple PMC/PCS 7070 / US Apple SW 153) — The 1966 masters carried onto the film soundtrack album.
1996 — Real Love (Apple C2 8 58544) — A 1995 stereo mix.
1999 — Yellow Submarine Songtrack (Apple 24181 2) — Deliberately different: it fades in on an introduction that is not on either 1966 mix. The most substantially rebuilt version of this song.
2009 remaster — Revolver (Parlophone 99458 2, 9 September 2009) — Flat transfers of the 1966 masters, stereo and mono. No mixing decisions revisited.
2022 new stereo and Dolby Atmos — Revolver Special Edition (28 October 2022, Giles Martin and Sam Okell) — Remixed from the four-track master using the machine-learning de-mixing developed at WingNut Films, which separates instruments that shared a track in 1966. The effects sit in a defined space rather than on top of the band.

Sources

Mark Lewisohn, The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions (New York: Harmony Books, 1988), 80–82, 84.
Kevin Ryan and Brian Kehew, Recording the Beatles: The Studio Equipment and Techniques Used to Create Their Classic Albums (Houston: Curvebender Publishing, 2006), 425–26, 428–29, 431.
Joseph Brennan, Usenet Guide to Beatles Recording Variations (rev. edn.), song entries.

Frequently asked

Who wrote Yellow Submarine?

“Yellow Submarine” was written by Lennon–McCartney (primarily Paul McCartney).

Who sings lead on Yellow Submarine?

The lead vocal on “Yellow Submarine” is by Ringo Starr.

When was Yellow Submarine recorded?

“Yellow Submarine” was recorded 26 May – 1 June 1966 at EMI Studios, Abbey Road (Studios Three and Two); mono remixes 2–3 June 1966, stereo remixes 22 June 1966.¹

How many takes did Yellow Submarine require?

Five — Lewisohn’s session log documents takes 1–4 of the rhythm track on 26 May 1966, followed by a tape-to-tape reduction of take 4 into take 5. All subsequent overdubs and the released master derive from take 5.¹